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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25289611">The Difference Between 'Love' and 'In Love' (Bigger Than You Can Imagine)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterycheerio/pseuds/Mysterycheerio'>Mysterycheerio</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Break Up, Broken Families, Broken Promises, Emotional, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Tony, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Post-Break Up, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:28:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>740</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25289611</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterycheerio/pseuds/Mysterycheerio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>just some past steve/tony angst that im not sure about,,, also tony-centric, heartbreaking, and steve is a dick.</p><p>*-*<br/>prompt: steve breaks tony's heart.<br/>rp starters: "Lie to me, then." and "You mean nothing to me"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Peter Parker &amp; Sam Wilson, Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Difference Between 'Love' and 'In Love' (Bigger Than You Can Imagine)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyLifeIsSMess/gifts">MyLifeIsSMess</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>also dont come for me, but most of these quotes are from Instagram. i thought theyd go well.</p><p>IMPORTANT:<br/>Set after cw and tony forgives steve (albuet grudgingly) but they break up cause steve says tony wouldn't be a good father to peter</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The thing is... Tony Stark has seen a lot in his lifetime. Nothing really surprises him anymore, since he’s seen gods, aliens, murderous super soldiers and morel.</p><p>But, what did surprise him, was Steve Rogers bursting through the door. And it pissed him off too. He was getting better, healing.</p><p>And now, he just shows up, unannounced, in the middle of the night. He had been watching a movie with Peter and Rhodey, the two adults had been woken up by Friday, who alerted them that the Spiderling had a nightmare. Halfway through Back To The Future 2, Peter’s head shot to the elevator, and the two Avengers looked at him with confusion, but didn’t bring it up, until:</p><p>“Tony?” The boy had whispered.</p><p>“Yeah, Kiddo?”</p><p>“Someone’s coming up the elevator.”</p><p>Within seconds, both Tony and Rhodey had the Iron Man and War Machine gauntlets wrapped around their hands, aiming at the lift. Peter sitting on the sofa, agreeing he was in no state to fight, yet fingers balancing gently on his webshooter buttons.</p><p>The elevator opened, and he was surprised to see Steve. Surprise quickly morphed into anger, and he didn’t lower his hands. </p><p>“What are you doing here, Rogers?” The soldier looked desperate.</p><p>“I realized, Tony, that I was wrong-“</p><p>“That’s a first,” Rhodes but in.</p><p>“-and I was wondering if you could take me back?” Tony’s mind faltered.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Peter whispered in Rhodey’s ear, the colonel resuming his sitting position.</p><p>“Steve’s being an asshat. Again.”</p><p>“Forgive you?” Tears sprung to his eyes. “<em>Forgive</em> you.” It was almost eerie how quiet his voice was. “I can’t. You know I can’t, Rogers. I’m...” He drew in a breath, “I-I’m trying to move on, dammit, trying so fucking hard, and you showing up here isn’t doing me any favours!"</p><p>“Don’t pretend like you didn’t want to see me-“</p><p>“I don’t want to see you!” He yelled, throwing his hands in the air, “It may have escaped your notice, <em>Captain</em>,” He spat, “But maybe I don’t want to see you after you fucking decimated my heart!”</p><p>“Don’t go blaming me for you giving u-“</p><p>“I gave up on you!? Are you fucking serious? If you want to talk facts, lets talk facts. <em>You</em> gave up on <em>me</em>. That’s why we broke up, you didn’t think I could do it, you didn’t think I was good enough to raise Peter!”</p><p>He swiped at his eyes angrily as Peter balked, eyes moving to glare at the soldier. Steve huffed, and the Billionaire spoke again.</p><p>“I hate you.”</p><p>“How can you hate me, Tony? I’m a great guy, I gave up everything for you, signed the bloody accords for crying out loud, and I-“</p><p>“You’re in love with me? Don’t you dare say that you’re in love with me, Steven, cause you’re not! You’re not!”</p><p>“Tony, I-I love you.” Tony’s lower lip trembled.</p><p>“I know you do, Steve, but you’re not <em>in</em> love with me.”</p><p>“What difference does it make?”</p><p>Tony’s answer was a whisper, carrying a thousand shards of his broken heart. <em>“All the difference in the fucking world.” </em></p><p>A beat passed, Steve looked away, towards the window, and clenched his jaw.</p><p>“You mean nothing to me.” The hero turned back at his ex’s reply.</p><p>“Fine. Lie to me, then. Tell me you’re not in love with me. Tell me you hate me, and that I should go to hell. Tell me you don’t miss me, and tell me that you’re fine.”</p><p>“I’ve never been fine. And I never stopped loving you."</p><p>Steve’s voice was full of sadness.“Then why can’t you take me back?”</p><p>“Cause, personally, I don’t like it when people come into my life, allow me to love them more than everything, and leave.”</p><p>The four drowned in silence, no-one daring to say a word.</p><p>“Leave,” The mechanic whispered.</p><p>The soldier didn’t move.</p><p>"Leave! Go! Get the fuck out of here! I never want to see you again!” “No... No, you don’t mean that!”</p><p>“Don’t I?”</p><p>The three watched as Steve shuffled into the elevator, his head hung.</p><p>Once the doors had closed, Tony finally allowed himself to break down, knees giving way as he sobbed. Rhodey rushed to his side, rubbing his back comfortingly, and Peter, unsure, moved slowly to hug the man.</p><p>“When does it get better?” the man muttered into Peter’s curls, “When do I stop loving him?” Neither one could give a satisfactory answer.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>comment?<br/>also, what do yall want to see next?<br/>1. the first chapter of my merlin au fic. ive been working on it for a while (11/32 chapters completed) and im so excited to share magical!peter with yall.</p><p>2. sorcerers apprentice au. another magic au, but based off the movie more. im thinking a series, first fic would be of little petermj (a la dave and becky), second may be defeating morgana, and third may be saving (balthazar) tony's life.</p><p>3. something from my bingo. its on my instagram. you can scream at me there (@mysterycheerio)</p><p>4. an rp starter to base the fic around. basically if you want this, give me a category listed below, and a number. the categories have different anounts of starters so something between 1 and 35 should be safe, although feel free to go higher. just,,, dont be absurd, dont give me like, a thousand (looking at you kylie)</p><p>RP Starter Categories:<br/>1. random shit (mostly funny quips ive picked up from fics and my friends) <br/>2. friends to lovers<br/>3. relationships (both rom. and plat.)<br/>4. sad/angry/both<br/>5. sad/angry/both 2<br/>6. concern/worry/protective<br/>7. comfort<br/>8. sass<br/>9. heated argument<br/>10. funny<br/>11. betrayal (both being betrayed and betraying) <br/>12. hurt (both physically and mentally) </p><p> </p><p>please answer, or tell me if you have any other ideas. if i like them, theyll go onto my wip list.</p><p>thanks for reading lovelies,, and tell your exes to stick it up their ass! love, cheerio</p></blockquote></div></div>
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